For many Parity people, the second week of July meant a flight (or a train) to the Belgian capital and a ton of time spent networking while attending ecosystem-centric talks, panels, discussions and podcasts. A few also enjoyed EthCC.
Although Polkadot Decoded was the big beast of the week, another important date in the diary was the Brussels Polkadot Technical Summit on July 10th, one day prior to Decoded.
The following summary of the technical summit, organized by Parity, is provided by @Remy_Parity
“With nearly 100 attendees representing a wide variety of project teams, the Polkadot Technical Summit’s goal was to bring together the technical minds of the Polkadot Ecosystem to discuss and tackle issues that the ecosystem is facing. We hosted workshops on XCM, Coretime, Bridges and Developer Experience of the Polkadot-SDK, focusing on collaboration, debate and open discussion.
“The summit was a qualified success: from the feedback we gathered, improvements compared to last year included a more open discussion and a will to collaborate more readily. Free food and a variety of refreshments throughout the day were made available. To check on the outcomes of the discussions, you can refer to these posts on the forum.
“Can we improve? Of course. In the future, attendees would prefer an even smaller “agenda” and more natural ‘spur-of-the-moment’ discussions. Many also feel the event could stretch to two or possible three days. Others felt we could have been more open about agenda topics in advance of the summit.
“The team is currently working on the action items, some of which are detailed in this forum post. The next summit will likely be in 2025 and will again be hosted close to a big Web3 event.”
Then it was onto Polkadot Decoded itself. This is now a well established annual mid-year event that showcases the Polkadot ecosystem. Unlike previous editions, this year’s Decoded was not managed by Parity.
The staging, lighting, and general delivery of the conference were carried out to a high standard, and the vibe in the huge warehouse-style venue was positive. Everything instantly felt on-brand.
Following an internal survey, a slim majority of the Parity staff who were in Brussels felt that the event met their overall expectations.
Feedback included an observation that there were “too many talks in parallel and not enough breaks for networking or to simply walk through the exhibition stalls”. Some felt the venue was too big and “felt empty”.
But there were plenty of plus points cited too. One delegate said it was “invaluable” to speak to developers in person, talking to people who were “in the mood” to talk, while others noted a higher quality of talks compared to last year’s Polkadot Decoded edition, which was held in Copenhagen. There was unanimous agreement that Decoded was valuable for networking and generally building connections.
Decentered Studios, the team organizing Polkadot Decoded 2024, concedes that feedback was “varied” and aims to better understand the majority view within the ecosystem before deciding on how next year’s edition might look like.
Decentered adds: “We plan to explore smaller venues for future events. This approach will not only create a more dynamic and engaging atmosphere but also help manage production costs effectively. We remain committed to increasing community involvement in the decision-making process and welcome suggestions for more inclusive engagement.”
Many voices in the ecosystem have shared their ideas on how Decoded could be improved. My personal thoughts are that Decentered could do with some support to market the event appropriately, including some clear targets, and considerations over what the objectives of a successful Decoded should be.
It’s great (and important) to catch up with familiar faces, but are there enough investors for smaller teams to talk to? Are there enough crypto newbies? Do we want a more general Web3 crowd less dominated by Polkadot maxis? I would encourage reading further opinions to gain a broader perspective if you haven’t already. Soon after Decoded, @Birdo posted The Future of Polkadot Events and @NateHam1 from Distractive produced this response.
Finally, a well-briefed panel is, I believe, generally more engaging to audiences than a single person standing at a lectern talking about one subject. Especially when they are encouraged to provide an honest, candid discussion. We organized a couple of these, inviting ecosystem agents to join Parity voices. One panel dealt with “spicy” issues like OpenGov, and another looked at potential improvements to the developer experience.
The truth is that everybody in the ecosystem loves being a part of Decoded, and takes away valuable memories from the event. Many of us just want it to be a little better each time, and there’s nothing wrong with that.